A standing-room-only crowd at the Fairfax Women's Club listened patiently on Saturday while town officials — criticized for insufficient communication with residents — tried to explain what the mayor described as "the complexities of zoning," a hot button issue in a community facing stiff opposition to a controversial ordinance that opponents say will pave the way for 124 new housing units.

"I must say it is a dense topic," Mayor David Weinsoff admitted before the session, billed as a "Town Hall Forum on the Future of Fairfax." "We're trying to get the community to come together on an issue that has really been at the heart of a number of city council meetings. Folks want to take another careful look. "

Whether they were able to do that is another matter. After town officials stated their case, one resident took the microphone during a Q&A session and called the town's general plan "a cruel hoax."

The session was the first of what the mayor said would be several public forums on the issue over the next few months. All across one wall of the room were maps and photos of the various projects that could be built under the much-debated new zoning laws and changes to the general plan required by the state through the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).

The graphics included: The Christ Lutheran Church property on the west end of town that has been rezoned to permit a minimum of 20 units per acre — preferably senior housing — on two acres of the site; the site of the former Mandarin Gardens restaurant at 10 Olema Road, which has been rezoned to accommodate 22 units of what the planning director called "Katrina cottages," and School Street Plaza, which has been rezoned to account for at least nine units.

During a time for public comment, residents brought up the campaign by two former council members to put the zoning issue on the ballot as a referendum that would be voted on by town residents.

"In 14 days, they gathered over 1,000 signatures saying we don't want this, and that's what that referendum is all about, to stop this process in its tracks," one speaker said.

Planning director Jim Moore admitted that "mathematical errors" were made in some of the charts in the new zoning ordinance and general plan language, but those had been corrected, he said, denying that there was any intent by the town staff or council to sneak anything by the townspeople.

"Comments have been made by folks who circulated that petition that we allowed hundreds of units, that we are planning for hundreds of units," he said, going over the charts before the session that he screened for the gathering. "That is not correct. People have maintained that we deliberately did that. We did not."

He also strongly emphasized that there is no intent by town officials to rezone the 99-acre Wahl property or Sky Ranch, both undeveloped.

"They said we rezoned hundreds of parcels," he said. "No. We rezoned approximately 68. To take the extra step, we're going to bring it back in as a general plan amendment so there ain't no mistake."

Among the printed materials on a table for people to pick up at the start of the forum was a list of resident comments that have been made during public hearings — from the adoption of the heatedly-debated zoning ordinance on March 5 to the most recent council meeting on July 2.

Many of those same comments and concerns were voiced again at Saturday's forum.

One woman, who lost her residence when her landlord raised her rent, spoke passionately for rent control and asked people to sign a petition to that effect.

Others lamented that their children can't afford to live in the town where they grew up.

There were a number of complaints about parking and traffic. One one senior citizen offered a solution, holding up a bus schedule, saying, "It is possible to live without cars. That's why some senior housing can be without parking."